Iris Apfel: Accidental Icon

“I never want to be an old fuddy-duddy;

I hold the self-proclaimed record for being the World’s Oldest Living Teenager and I intend to keep it that way.”

—Iris Apfel

One of the most dynamic personalities in the worlds of fashion, textiles, and interior design—and hands down the most vital, witty nonagenarian in the solar system—Iris Apfel is a true original. 

Now, this contemporary legend, whose authenticity, candor, and infectious energy have earned her fans of all ages worldwide, has created an entertaining, thought-provoking, visually arresting, and exciting volume that captures her irrepressible joie de vivre.

Astute maxims, anecdotes from childhood to the present, essays on style and various subjects—from the decline of manners to risk-taking—fill the book, as do lists proclamatory, revelatory, and advisory. A bold, highly colorful design that varies from page to page presents a characteristically improvisational pastiche of vibrant images including personal photographs and mementos, images from top international fashion photographers, specially commissioned art by renowned illustrators, and a range of surprising novelties.

This is a rare book by a rare bird, indeed.

About the Author

Iris Apfel is a renowned collector of and authority on antique textiles. In 1950, she and her husband, Carl Apfel, founded Old World Weavers, an international textile manufacturing company specializing in reproducing antique fabrics for an elite clientele. She was also a consultant to the White House during nine presidential administrations and produced fabric that still hangs in the Gold Room today. In 2005, the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art staged Rara Avis, a blockbuster exhibit of her clothing and accessories, making her the first living person who was not a fashion designer to be so honored. Since then she has been featured in numerous publications in print and online and has collaborated with and been the face of numerous brands and retailers. She was also the subject of director Albert Maysles’ award-winning film Iris. She sells Rara Avis, her line of clothing and accessories, on the Home Shopping Network. An associate professor at the University of Texas who teaches students about the fashion industry, she is the recipient of numerous awards, including a special award from the Women Together Foundation at the United Nations for her lifelong dedication and support of artisans around the world and for her inspiration as a true original to artists and designers of all generations and from all walks of life.